Endless Night
by cazflibs
Summary: Tired and alone on Galactic Bazaar one night, Rimmer bumps into an all-too familiar face. Slash. Rimmer/Lister


**A brief oneshot that borrows the setting of the world of Galactic Bazaar I created for my Ace trilogy and the character of Juno from my fic 'Only the One'. The idea of symbi-morphs and their 'services' in Cyberia belongs to Doug Naylor, as seen in his novel 'Last Human'. This fic follows on from my other slashy outings - 'Breaking the Habit' and 'No Happy Ending'.  
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**Rated M for sexual content. Rimmer/Lister slash. Enjoy!  
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It was night on _Galactic Bazaar_.

The usual hustle and bustle of the market had long since died away as the traders retreated with the fading sun. The silence of the now abandoned marketplace was broken by a set of booted footsteps echoing around the dark maze of empty stalls.

He'd been battling the simulants for the last three days, fending off their unrelenting attacks as he raced to the rescue of various GELFs and Kinitowawi stranded in their immobile ships and bringing them to the safety of the refugee colony, _The Exodus_. He'd finally managed to reach _Galactic Bazaar _to recuperate and restock.

Rimmer was tired. And he was lonely.

He'd decided to take a shortcut through the market to head to the main square where the bars and the nightlife held dominion, when he heard a whisper tickle the humid night air. Rimmer stopped quickly, certain that he'd heard his name calling to him from the darkness. After a quick scan of his surroundings, he blinked heavily before expelling an exhausted breath. He hadn't slept in days and he was certain his mind was playing tricks on him. He continued walking, telling himself that he'd only have the one drink from Darka before finding a bed for the night. After all, he'd managed to scrape together 200 credits - enough to buy himself the ammunition he needed from the traders in the morning.

A set of hushed, hurried footsteps echoed from the dark corridor to his right and Rimmer immediately slowed and stopped, his eyes flitting left and right searching the shadows.

Someone was definitely following him.

After a moment's contemplation he curled his fingers around the cold steel of his guns still holstered in his belt, quietly stalking towards the sound of the footsteps. As he reached the end of the main alley, he steadied himself with a silent breath before quickly rounding the corner, snapping out the guns so they trained on his stalker. His hardened scowl retreated almost immediately when he realised who it was. His mouth fell slack in shock, eyes wide as his guns held aloft before him trembled visibly before dropping helplessly to his sides.

Despite the eerily silent darkness of the abandoned market, his profile was unmistakable. A short, stocky figure stood expectantly at the far end of the alley, hands thrust in his pockets.

"Lister - ?" he breathed.

A strange, smug smile tugged at the corner of the man's mouth as he turned away wordlessly and slipped into the shadows of the alley to his left. Confused, Rimmer holstered his guns and followed, his slow, surreal steps growing quicker and more urgent until he broke into a run. He reached the opening of the alley panting visibly to see Lister leaning against the wall, his face obscured in darkness.

"I've been waiting for yer," he said simply.

Rimmer's hand reached out to steady himself against the brick wall. This was too surreal for words. "W-what are you doing here?" he mumbled. "How did you - ?"

He tailed off as Lister stepped out of the shadows, slowly and purposefully closing the gap between them. Despite his shock and confusion Rimmer found himself beginning to relax, his head feeling warm and comforted as their gazes locked. Smeg, it was so good to see him again after all this time. His face hadn't changed a bit since they'd last seen each other six years before.

Hang on.

Rimmer blinked quickly, straining his vision as if he were trying to decipher a _trompe-l'oeil_. His features and expression may have been identical, even reflecting the way he remembered how two of his rasta plaits would sometimes snake down his chest. But there was one distinct difference. Lister didn't usually have violet eyes.

Rimmer shrank back slightly in recognition. "Juno," he managed.

Most of the vistors to _Galactic Bazaar_ knew Juno only by reputation, but Rimmer had already had the misfortune of crossing paths with her a few years before. Juno was a symbi-morph. Symbi-morphs were usually tied psychically to a host, using their ability to change their physical form to please their host's every desire. Juno, however, had broken her psychic link. Cast out of the dolochimp service on Cyberia, she had eventually found her way to _Galactic Bazaar_; prowling the streets at night, using whichever violent and sexual methods she could conjure to line her pockets with jewels and credits.

Rimmer flinched visibly as he felt her twitch in his mind. "Stop it, I know it's you," he muttered distractedly.

The symbi-morph was clearly ignoring him. He watched transfixed as Lister drew up close enough to feel his warm breath tickle his nose. He shuddered.

"You're tired, man," he soothed, lightly but meaningfully running his hands up Rimmer's sleeves. "Why don't you come back to mine and relax, eh?"

Rimmer's face struggled with a frown as he fought to tear his gaze away, his hands inching up to the guns holstered in his belt. The symbi-morph didn't even need to look away to notice the internal struggle that battled behind his eyes, quickly whipping Lister's fingers up to lightly grasp Rimmer's temples.

"Why are you pulling away from me, man?" he said, hurt, instantly halting Rimmer's hands. His gaze grew more intense. "Stop trying to close your mind to me, open up."

Rimmer's mind felt fluttery and hot as Juno flitted through his memory files and psyche databanks. Her hypnotic power over him was fairly weak; linked only by a single psychic hook from their first encounter with one another. But he was exhausted from his fight with the simulants, his mind dizzy with lack of sleep. And now his subconcious bubbled under the surface, proffering thoughts, feelings and desires far too freely. Juno blinked in surprise, pulling away gently as if she'd just discovered something that surprised her.

"I see," Lister nodded, understanding. His fingers slipped back down to stroke Rimmer's reassuringly. "Do you want to come with me?"

Rimmer's fingers pulled away from his guns and curled lightly around Lister's. He nodded silently.

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Sat on the soft folds of the bed, Rimmer watched wordlessly as Lister unlaced his boots and carefully pulled them from his aching feet, the breath catching in his throat as their eyes met. He knew it was a trick. But his mind felt like it had unravelled, the defences down; as if he were drunk and all too aware of the consequences but didn't much care.

Without breaking his gaze, Lister turned slowly to kiss the inside of Rimmer's knee, his image fluttering like a warm wind rippling across water until his biker jacket and khakis dissolved away, leaving him dressed simply in a pair of black cotton boxers. Rimmer's eyebrow and trousers twitched.

It was one hell of a trick.

Lister slowly pulled himself up from where he'd been kneeling by his feet, stalking his hands over his thighs until their faces hovered millimetres apart. Rimmer closed the gap between them, leaning forward until their foreheads met, feeling the slick heat from Lister's brow against his. He breathed him in, the musky Earthiness overwhelming him. A deep, pent-up sigh shuddered free from his chest as his eyes sank closed.

"Miss you," he murmured, barely audibly.

Lister tipped up his head so that their lips met; kissing him as slowly and softly as he could. Rimmer broke it off after a few moments, his eyes half-open, shivering nervously. Lister gave him a reassuring smile, his violet eyes twinkling before they closed, leaning forward to kiss him once more. A warm, loving tongue slicked across Rimmer's lips and he parted them willingly, whimpering into Lister's open mouth as his tongue caressed his. A firm yet gentle hand pushed against his chest guiding him down to lie on the bed and Rimmer gave no resistence. He felt Lister grinding an erection against his thigh, moaning with a pleasure that sparked life into his own.

Lister paused, suddenly pulling away from their kiss and blinking in surprise, as if again only just picking up on something that whispered fleetingly on the air. Rimmer's eyes fluttered open, confused.

Lister regarded him strangely. "You're in pain," he said distractedly.

He ran a thoughtful hand across the cotton of Rimmer's t-shirt before closing his eyes in concentration. Rimmer felt his light bee pulse once, his clothing dissolving away leaving his naked skin trembling from the trepidation rather than the cold. Juno had overridden his light bee commands and given the silent instruction to undress. He glanced down to his bare chest where his self-repair was still working on restoring his image; the visible scar pulsing a faint red light. It was one of many injuries he'd sustained in the last few days.

Lister bowed his head, bending down to kiss the scar with a healing, feather-light kiss before his deep, violet eyes flitted up to meet his. Rimmer watched transfixed as Lister began to leave a path of slow, gentle kisses that trailed purposefully downwards to his now exposed erection, biting his lip hard in anticipation. As Lister took him in his mouth, his head sank back with a gutteral moan, his hands snaking out to grip the sheets between his fingers. His mind seemed to float off without him, losing any grip on time and place as he felt the pleasure mounting inside him. He came hard, gripping the tight curls of Lister's hair.

He felt a strangely sated, warm glow as Lister still held him in his mouth as his shuddering subsided before climbing up the bed to lie beside him. He sighed contentedly as Lister kissed him tenderly on the cheek, before sinking into a deep and satisfying sleep.

Lister's image dissolved as a wind rippled across his body, the symbi-morph's appearance shifting back to her usual dark, lightly-matrixed, female humanoid form. Juno's deep, violet eyes frowned, confused. The legendary Ace Rimmer felt nothing from the adoration and glory that was thrust upon him. His desires were fairly humble. To be loved by one person.

When Rimmer awoke a few hours later, Juno had long gone. And so had the 200 credits he'd stashed in his pocket.

But he couldn't help but smile.


End file.
